A Painful Forgiveness
by Dustal Gray
Summary: What if Link hadn't left the Skull Kid and fairies behind? Well, he'd have a carnival to go to for starters. And isnt the Zora band playing tonight? Just a cute story mainly about Skull Kid. Takes place when game is just ending. Rated K-


8/2/10

...

Swamp, Ocean, Canyon, Mountain: The Four Giants of Termina stood gazing up at the sky, their black-orb eyes watching the moon return to its natural plce in the galaxy, their long arms hanging limp at their sides. They stood towering over from every direction of Clock Town, their long bodies rising and falling in union as they breathed the warm morning air.

Standing outside Woodland, a small, dark-colored boy in orange clothes and hat gazed up at the Giants, his golden slit-like eyes wide.

The dark-colored boy was known as the Skull Kid. And he had known the Giants long ago, when they were smaller, more agreeable creatures. They would play in the four regions of Termina, making up games to amuse themselves with. But the Skull Kid's way of entertainment was by playing tricks and scams, and the Giants disaproved of the Skull Kid, and so they went back to their own regions, leaving the Kid behind. Hurt by abandonment, the Skull Kid had to find new friends to have fun with- he found two fairies, a mask, and one boy from a place far away called Hyrule...

The outcome was devistating, and the Skull Kid- with the dark powers of the mask- brought down the moon, nearly destroyed the entire world, trapping the Four Giants in masks of their on in the process. And despite it all, the Giants came when the boy from Hyrule called with his sacred instrument- came singing in low voices, and saved the world.

The Giants held no grudge against the Skull Kid for his terrible deeds and mistakes; to them, he was just a lonely boy, who needed a friend. They forgave him in their own silent way.

Looking up at them now, the Skull Kid's legs trembled. "You guys..." he said weakly, addressing the Four, his voice heavy with shame. "You guys hadn't forgotten about me?" Swallowing hard, the Skull Kid looked down, his entire body shaking now. _Why are they nice to me?_ he thought quietly. _How can they still forgive me after everything I've done?_

The Four Giants looked at the boy, their gentle faces betraying no emotion. 

The boy of Hyrule, known as Link, stood by his horse, watching the Skull Kid with almost a look of pity. Floating away from the boy, a purple fairy and a white one glided over to the Skull Kid to comfort him, but the Kid did not acknowledge their presence.

The Giants looked away from the Skull Kid, calling out one last song before walking back to their regions.

Watching the Giants leave, the two fairies stayed by the Skull Kid, who still shook terribly- his mind refusing to let go of his guilt so easily. The boy of Hyrule, Link, looked over at the Skull Kid, but did not move, even as the Giant from the forest passed by them in great, earth-breaking footsteps.

A long moment of silence passed over the fairies and Link, all eyes on the Kid as he refused to look away from the ground, shivering in anguish.

He left utterly alone. Pain wormed its way into his chest, tying knots in his chest, suffocating him. Closing his eyes, the Skull Kid struggled to put the pieces together. Reasons why someone would forgive him after he had nearly destroyed the entire world.

As suddenly as rain-fall, Skull Kid realized what the answer was, and the pain un-wound itself from his body, giving him a sense of peace. He no longer trembled. With the air of curiosity, the Kid turned his face towards the Hyrule boy and the fairies, eager to test out his conclusion.

But first he had to be sure.

"Did you..." the dark-colored Kid hesitated. "Did you save me?" he asked Link.

Link merely nodded.

Turning towards the path the swamp Giant took, the Skull Kid's lips curled into a small smile. "I thought they didn't want to be friends with me..." he said with relief, the purple fairy and the white one hovering near his head. "But..." the Kid added, "They hadn't forgotten about me..." _Because they are my friends_, the Skull Kid said to himself. "Friends are a nice thing to have," he said after a pause, giggling.

He turned to the Hyrule boy questionably. "Could you be my friend too?" he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he shuffled forward in his pointed-red shoes and approached the boy, getting very close to his face. He began to sniff the boy, who flinched back in alarm.

But the Skull Kid began to laugh, pleased. "Eh-heh-heh...You have the same smell as the fairy kid who taught me that song in the woods..." _No_, corrected the Skull Kid inwardly as Link merely shiffed his weight from foot-to-foot._ He is the same boy. He is such a nice boy, too... _"I know!" said the Skull Kid suddenly, doing a little dance. "I know! Let's do something!"

Just then, another voice made itself known.

"Oh...So the evil has left the mask after all..."

All four(including the fairies) turned toward the voice, noticing for the first time that the Happy-Mask Salesmen was near by, gazing down in his hands at the same mask the Skull Kid had stolen. Putting his mask away, the Salesman looked over at the quartlet, directly Link. "...But, my, you sure have managed to make quite a number of people happy."

The Salesman smiled when none of them spoke. He continued more enigmaticly, "The masks you have are filled with happiness. This is truly good happiness."

As they watched him leave, the Salesman vanished right before their eyes. But after seeing dozens of unbelievable happenings, neither Link, nor the fairies, found it the least bit odd.

"Well," said the white fairie, who's name is Tatl. "Both of us have gotten what we were after..."

Silently, the Skull Kid watched Link, a slow feeling of dread seeping into his veins.

The white fairie looks at Link, saying softly, "So this is where you and I part ways, isn't it?"

Link agreed.

"You know..." Tatl admitted shly. "It was kind of fun."

Link mounted his horse. He gave them one last look before kicking the horse's sides, bolting fowards towards Clock Town, where he would enter and escape Termina from the underground passageway.

"Link!" shouted Tatl suddenly, her wings stiff. She never got to tell him this, so she spoke it out-loud like a prayer. "...Thankyou." she whispered.

Touched, the purple fairie moved closer to the white one, cuddling against her in a sort of hug. *

But how could they be so willing to allow the boy to go? After all they had been through... The Skull Kid shook his head angrily. No. He couldn't accept it. Not without a proper goodbye. He didn't want their parting to be so abrupt- not after the boy had done so much for them.

The Skull Kid began to run- not shuffle- nearly falling the first few steps he took. But he quickened his pace and began shouting Link's name, over and over, telling him to wait.

Rearing up, the horse turned its head towards the shouting, and Link looked over his shoulder, and saw the dark-colored boy. Confused, Link dismounted and walked over quickly, alarmed that he might have forgotten something behind.

But when Link arrived to the Skull Kid, the Kid pulled Link into a tight, almost desperate embrace.

Eyes wide, Link could only stand stunned, shock clouding his mind so that he just barely noticed the two fairies gliding over with slow, uncertainty.

"Thankyou..for coming back."

Link felt warmth course into his cheeks at the Skull Kid's words. Spoken with such...sadness, and yet...happiness. He didn't understand why the Skull Kid was so emotional.

Letting the boy of Hyrule go, the Kid stepped back with a smile, as if eying a new toy from a window. "You can't go yet," said the Skull Kid, hopefully. "We still have a carnival to go to."

Link opened his mouth to protest, then watched as the two fairies behind the Skull Kid nodded their head at the Hyrule boy urgently. But before Link could either agree or disagree, the Skull Kid said, "You will come with us, right...?"

"Okay." said Link. "But I need to leave by tonight."

"What's the rush?" asked Tatl, the white fairie.

Smiling, the Skull Kid began to dance on his toes, shaking his head excitedly. "That's all right!" he cried, startling the horse. He reached out, grabbing the boy by his hand. He shuffled towards the entrance to Clock Town, saying, "The carnival ends at noon! We have plenty of time to play games!"

"Games...?" Link said, blushing at the thought. He didn't have time for games, did he? For some reason, Link felt rushed- an urgency willed him to mount his horse once more and take off to the beyond. Besides, he too mature for them? But the boy from Hyrule didn't protest, though; deep inside, he felt a childish elation rise up, making him smile.

The two fairies spun around eachother, then glided ahead of the boys, the purple fairy saying, "Come on- we're gonna miss the fireworks!"

Hopping over the steps to the doorway, the dark-colored Skull Kid and the pale fairie boy ran into Clock Town, blissful smiles on their faces.

...


End file.
